“All the messages that I received said to choose with the heart and I think in the end that has been the decision. It is absolutely not about money,” he said.

Kaka has been under intense public pressure from Milan fans to reject the offer that would make him not only the most expensive to buy, but also he highest paid with an annual salary reported as high as $36 million.

Kaka’s announcement came less than 48 hours after his team’s 1-0 win over Fiorentina at Milan’s San Siro stadium on Saturday, which ended with team mates queuing up to embrace the Brazilian and fans waving banners and singing chants pleading the 26-year-old to stay.

City representatives have made several visits to Milan to discuss the possible move, and Manchester City’s chairman Garry Cook met recently with Kaka’s father and agent, though not with the player himself, according to Italian press reports.

Milan had given the player permission to talk to Manchester City, as football regulations require, indicating that they were prepared to consider a sale. The deal would have given it the cash to rebuild an aging team, just as Juventus did with some success after selling Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid for what now still stands as the record transfer fee of $68 million.

How much of Kaka’s decision not to go to Manchester was the player’s and how much a change of heart on behalf of AC Milan is unclear–as is whether Kaka, having now established a market price for himself might not just decamp next summer to a more glamorous club than Manchester City such as Spain’s Real Madrid.